The first phase of the 15th parliamentary election in India will take place today in 17 states and union territories to elect 124 representatives to the parliament.

The states going to polls in the first phase include Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir in the north; Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland in the north-east; Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand in the east; Maharashtra in the west; and Andhra Pradesh and Kerala in the south.

Parties in the fray include the Left-of-the-Centre Indian National Congress (known as the Congress party), which leads the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA); the Right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA); the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), headed by the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, a Dalit (formerly ‘untouchable’) woman; and Left parties.

While the Congress party has 111 candidates for the first phase, its rival BJP has fielded 102. The BSP also has 111 candidates and the Communist Party of India-Marxist 23. Around 1,000 candidates are contesting independently.

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